


Gravitational Pull

by Karenkk



Series: Kintsugi [6]
Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Angst, F/M, Friends With Benefits, M/M, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-11-29 05:15:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18218693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karenkk/pseuds/Karenkk
Summary: As usual, Yuzuru was the center of attention, everything and everyone orbited around him. And the Spaniard was no exception. The least he could do was to stay on the outer flight path, but there was no way to fight the gravitational pull altogether.A yuzuvier story being told by both sides. Please read it as part of the Kintsugi series.Javier's POVRPS disclaimer applies.





	Gravitational Pull

Miki was warm, beautiful and familiar. Her silky black hair fanned out on the bed sheets, a striking contrast of black and white. Her body was soft and inviting. She moaned so beautifully as he sank into her. Every stroke brought out a response - a high pitched cry, the arched spine, those legs that locked behind his back tightened as she asked for more, more and more. He loved to see how she fell apart beneath him, lightly tanned skin glistened with sweat and passion. He treasured these moments. 

Everything about her was familiar, and for the first time in a very long time, he didn't feel like a fumbling virgin. Sex with Yuzuru was always mind-blowing, the Japanese took him to places that he didn't think were possible. But it was never enough to compensate for the self-doubt afterward. 

Being Miki was just easy. English was their second language but they had no trouble understanding each other with years of friendship as foundation. She was direct with her words and feelings, she played no games. 

They agreed to an exclusive relationship during the offseason tour, with the plan to re-evaluate for anything more serious afterward. 

"Javi, don't make lies and cheats part of this please." Her naked body lied next to his, all heated skin and soft limbs. But there was nothing but seriousness in her eyes. And he understood. She had gone through a series of relationships that turned out to be nothing but lies and cheats. He had seen the emotional toll they had on her each time, leaving one scar after another. So he promised, as he gave her a kiss on her lips. His heart fluttered as she smiled adoring at him.

In all honesty, he was content and happy. He would never admit it though, sometimes, just sometime, that he wished he was buried inside another body - tiny frame with hard muscles, long limbs and distinctively male. Hotel lights could play such awful tricks with his eyes at times, as he looked at Miki's beautiful black hair and dark eyes. 

It was hard not to think about his rink mate, being on the same tour. As usual, Yuzuru was the center of attention, everything and everyone orbited around him. And the Spaniard was no exception. The least he could do was to stay on the outer path, but there was no way to fight the gravitational pull altogether.

He didn't know how to his face once friend anymore after Helsinki. Every time he looked at the Japanese, all he could see was the fear-stricken eyes that stared back at him that night. Tears and sweat marred that beautiful face, lips bruised and swollen. And Yuzuru, who had never let anyone seen his vulnerable side truly looked like he was made of cracked glass. He remembered how he tried to clumsily wipe away those tears. A stupid instinct to make it better, as if there was anything he could do to make it better. Yet Yuzuru shrank back, with his arms instinctively crossed before his face, like he was expecting to be struck.

At that moment, he knew he had single-handedly destroyed the friendship they had spent years to build. He sat by the toilet bowl in his bathroom, feeling light-headed after another round of dry heaving. He had no idea about how to fix any it. And yet the next day, there was the Japanese, again being the better person checking up on him. Yuzuru, with his smile and gentle hands, still being so trusting. And yet there he was, with the darkness inside of him, menacingly quite for the moment but surely waiting to strike again. 

He had wanted to apologize, but how did one apologize for something like this? Thank you for trusting me with your body and safety, but I abused both to my content because you cared enough and wanted to make me feel better? What could he possibly say or do to make it better? He went through it in his mind times and times again and made it a bigger mess each time. So he stayed by the sideline, waiting for his head to work through the mess or his courage to finally show its face. Whichever happened first, he supposed. 

When Yuzuru called him that morning, he was surprised. In his sleep-heavy mind, the Japanese sounded exactly like his 17-year-old self, asking for his help to hide his injury so he could compete. So he did as he was asked. Being a known friend of Yuzuru had its perks. It took him five minutes to convince the hotel staff to provide a second keycard to his room. 

He was certainly surprised when he found the younger man in the stairwell. All the signs were there, the red-rimmed eyes, messy bed hair, badly wrinkled clothes that smelt like cigarette, alcohol, and sex. He knew exactly what a walk of shame looked like, after all, he had his fair share of these. No wonder he didn't want to be seen. 

When Yuzuru said he was drunk and had slept it off in a friend's room, he knew exactly what these words meant. Suddenly filled irrational anger he seethed, but kept his temper in check. What they had was a no strings attached arrangement, and he went in with full knowledge of it. How was he in any position to complain after years of mind-blowing sex? So he kept his mouth shut, as he watched those bare feet climbed the stairs to his floor. 

Yuzuru was absent for the morning rehearsal, and people took notice. Well known for his work ethic, it was very rare to see him skipping any part of the preparation. But they got distracted soon enough as a new member joined the tour. 

Akihiro Hirata, Japan's former ace, the World Champion and Olympic Bronze Medallist was here. After retirement, he left Japan for America for major back surgery and ultimately stayed to complete a double degree in sports science and sports management. He had just returned to Japan. Since an American pair skating team had pulled out at the last second due to injury he was asked to fill the spot as a favor.

There was a lot of hugs, back-slapping and joking shared between long-time friends, while the younger ones eagerly waited for their chance to meet the legend. He had a warm, firm handshake, Javier noted. The Japan's heartthrob was indeed very handsome, with an air of confidence and friendliness. His smile was kind and genuine in its delight as he met everyone. And if his eyes stayed on Javier a little longer than usual it was hard to notice.

The group choreography was modified to accommodate him, but overall it was an easy fix. Javi stayed to watch him practicing his solo program. Clearly not having time to get a new one done he recycled his last competitive program with all quads downgraded to triples. Despite out of the competitive circuit for years, Akihiro clearly still kept up with a training regime. His world famous spins were smooth as ever, his speed was as fast as most top tier skaters. On the ice his expressiveness and musicality truly shined. 

Yuzuru came to the rink for the afternoon session, citing he wasn't feeling well in the morning. As always impeccable with his manner, he apologized to each of the team and crew about the inconvenience that he caused. It was, of course, met with a lot of kinds of words wishing him feeling better. He indeed looked pale and distracted. Clearly being hungover was a rare thing for him, he messed up the group choreography quite a few times, but people took pity on him and just let him be. It wasn't until an off-axis Triple Axel sending him flying across the ice, hitting the rink edge made up with soft foams that Javier got worried. He was lucky that they were at a temporally made rink for ice shows only, so there were no solid boards planted around the edges. Before Javier could instinctively skate forward to offer him a hand, like he had done a thousand times in the past, Akihiro got there first. He bent down and lifted him up by his should and waist. He checked him for injuries and then gently dusted off the ice from his black training gear. And Javier swore he could see Yuzuru stiffened under the attention. Surely not, he thought, because the younger man just stood there, letting himself being fussed over.

At front of Javier's eyes, Akihiro literally became Yuzuru's shadow. And no one in team Japan seemed to be surprised by it. It was like the older Japanese man knew Yuzuru like the back of his own hands, including every habit, and every quirk. Both of them knew where particularly Yuzuru liked his Pooh tissue box to be at all time, for example. The younger man would never say anything if it was moved but his mood would slowly go downhill. It'd be only visible to those who knew him well enough, Yuzuru wasn't a diva. Javier usually was in charge of figuring out a way to distract him before it became the first step toward a full-blown self-brooding. Akihiro, on the other hand always managed to get his beloved Pooh back to its rightful place before the younger man even took a notice. During meal time, while Yuzuru was scouting the table for a bottle of tamari to flavor his raw egg on rice, Akihiro would have casually handed it to him without breaking his conversation with Keiji who sat by his side.

Then one of the American skater in the show got hit by a car. Whilst the injury was not life-threatening, it effectively took him off the tour. So the management approached the two Japanese about doing a collaboration piece as a replacement. A show finale that would surely get all the audiences fired up and the media talking for weeks to come. Akihiro was quite thrilled about the challenge, while Yuzuru looked solemn, with a little frown between his eyebrows betraying how uncomfortable he was with this idea. Before Javier could volunteer himself, he agreed. Miki laughed at the look on his face, calling it seeing his little brother being stolen away.

" Akihiro and Yuzuru had always been close. He was sort of like his mentor for many years." Miki giggled, but then looked somewhat solemn, "Well, until Yuzuru moved to senior division and they competed together. Akihiro started to be plagued with injuries while Yuzuru just soared at a rate that no one could have predicted. They went through a rough patch, it seemed. It was hard to balance friendship with rivalry. Honestly, I don't know how you have been able to it with Yuzuru, we all know how competitive he is. But I'm glad they are working through it now."

The pair did nothing but worked on their new program for the next three days behind the closed door. And it was on the opening night that Javier finally got the chance to see it for the first time. It was dark and hauntingly beautiful, as they skated in darkness, with the stage light chasing their fast movements across the ice. It was amazing to see how much they had managed to achieve in such a short time. The choreography was relatively simple given the lack of time. But the visual effects were stunning nonetheless. Yuzuru and Akihiro were completely in synch as they broke into a side by side camel spin, then they were able to take off and landed a Triple Axel with near identical timing. Akihiro threw himself to a scratch spin, whilst Yuzuru hydrobladed in an oval path around him, like a satellite trying to break away from gravity but eventually was pulled back in as their hands touched in the ending pose. There was a shared closeness on ice that should have only been possible after years of training side by side for every day of the week. 

Suddenly being alarmed by the fact that he was about to lose one of the most important relationships in his life, the Spaniard had finally gathered his courage. He fully intended to go to Yuzuru's room the next morning, trying to make amends, instead, he saw Akihiro kissing his friend at the front of his hotel room. Then it became all so clear to him. There was definitely a bond between the two Japanese, and it was indeed built on years of friendship, rivalry, and sexual intimacy. A startling parallel to his own with his Japanese rink mate.

After the shock wore away, all he could feel was anger and hurt. Was he ever special, he wondered. Or was it simply because Yuzuru needed a companion and he happened to be there? Was he just another body to keep his bed warm, and to be cast aside when there were other options available? Did he really care for him? Was it the fact that he saw himself as straight made it all that much amusing as a challenge?

He laughed at himself for being the idiot he was.

**Author's Note:**

> I went from stress writing before the Worlds to emo writing post the Worlds... But I'm in hiatus for a bit as I'll be on an overseas trip soon.
> 
> If you are interested, this is the music Yuzuru and Akihiro skated to https://youtu.be/i_WTHkBuqbg
> 
> I do, however, have an idea about an Akihiro/Javier/Yuzuru threesome fic that could potentially serve as an alternative ending, surely no one would be interested, right? 👀


End file.
